It has been 25 years since the early days of the Holmoe era. As we don't have much going for our program right now except spring practice reports (kinda a snooze), I thought maybe we could do some good old fashioned rankings of our last 25 years under Homoe, Tedford, Dykes and Wilcox.

This thread is for grown-up leaders. I will start another one for players later.

This is just one yabbo's opinion:

Head Coaches:

1. Tedford -- we had very good (bordering excellent), good, mediocre and bad teams under Tedford. This is better than any of the other coaches we had.

2. Dykes -- we had two bad, and one good, and one terrible year under Dykes. But there did seem to be an upward trajectory from where he started (1-11). He didn't want to be here and seemed to be having some personal issues, but in terms of football performance, he was number two.

3. Wilcox -- like Dykes, he never had any very good years like Tedford did. But unlike Dykes, he never had any terrible years (apart from the Covid year). 3 bad seasons, 2 mediocre, 1 good, 1 covid year. The only reason he is below Dykes is there was more excitement when Dykes was here and there has not been any overall positive trajectory in his tenure.

Offensive Coordinators:

1. Franklin -- barely edges out Cortez.
1a. Cortez - man, it was so much fun when we as a fan base had confidence that our offensive coaches were smarter than everyone else's defensive minds
3. Spav

Defensive Coordinators:

1. Clancy
2. Gregory - he was slipping fast towards the end, but he did record multiple shutouts.
3. TDR

Special Team Coordinators:

1. Dan Ferrigno
2. Tommerdahl
3. Jeff Genyk

Athletic Directors

1. Gladstone
2. Sandy
3. Williams

Chancellors

1. Lyons (he hasn't screwed anything up yet)
2. Berdahl (I kinda miss Bear in Mind)
3. Birgeneau

I was in favor of firing Tedford, but I didn't like the Dykes hire. However I will say this about him: he had us on the edge of our seats. And there were times that he really got our hopes up before we faced teams that required us to play defense. For that reason, I put him in front of Wilcox. I have never had raised hopes with Wilcox.

My biggest challenge here was between Clancy and Gregory and TDR (you can make a case for any of them), and between Cortez and Franklin. I put Franklin first because of the huge point totals. But there was something really cool about our Tedford/Cortez offenses. We carried an intellectual and physical swagger.

Head coaches:

1. Tedford: Led Cal to its best season of the last 65 years (2006).

2. Dykes: Beat Texas at Texas and at home.

3. Wilcox: Beat Old Miss twice.


Offensive coordinators:

1. Franklin.

2. I forgot everybody else/



Defensive coordinators:

1. I don't recall.


Athletic Directors:

1. Sandy: Led Cal Athletics during Cal football's best season of the past 65 years (2006). Also built the stadium and tne Aaron Rodgers Center.

2. Steve Gladstone: Hired Tedford.

3. I forgot everybody else.


Chancellors:

1. Christ: Led Cal through some tough years. Incoporated the stadium into the school.

2. The Canadian guy. I forgot his name.

3. berdahl

okaydo said:

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Head coaches:

1. Tedford: Led Cal to its best season of the last 65 years (2006).

2. Dykes: Beat Texas at Texas and at home.

3. Wilcox: Beat Old Miss twice.


Offensive coordinators:

1. Franklin.

2. I forgot everybody else/



Defensive coordinators:

1. I don't recall.


Athletic Directors:

1. Sandy: Led Cal Athletics during Cal football's best season of the past 65 years (2006). Also built the stadium and tne Aaron Rodgers Center.

2. Steve Gladstone: Hired Tedford.

3. I forgot everybody else.


Chancellors:

1. Christ: Led Cal through some tough years. Incoporated the stadium into the school.

2. The Canadian guy. I forgot his name.

3. berdahl

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Pretty much.

okaydo said:

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Head coaches:

1. Tedford: Led Cal to its best season of the last 65 years (2006).

2. Dykes: Beat Texas at Texas and at home.

3. Wilcox: Beat Old Miss twice.


Offensive coordinators:

1. Franklin.

2. I forgot everybody else/



Defensive coordinators:

1. I don't recall.


Athletic Directors:

1. Sandy: Led Cal Athletics during Cal football's best season of the past 65 years (2006). Also built the stadium and tne Aaron Rodgers Center.

2. Steve Gladstone: Hired Tedford.

3. I forgot everybody else.


Chancellors:

1. Christ: Led Cal through some tough years. Incoporated the stadium into the school.

2. The Canadian guy. I forgot his name.

3. berdahl

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Sad that you are correct, most of our guys have been people who we don't recall or forgot ..

Okaydo - you don't recall Cortez or TDR or Bob Gregory?

You put Sandy above Gladstone. I'd love to hear more.

I give Sandy a lot of credit for getting the stadium over the finish line. Also, the Gottlieb hire was nothing short of brilliant.

But I was really frustrated by a relatively weak response to the tree sitters, poor support for Tedford and for the football program during the transition between stadiums, her dependency on a search committee and then her decision to hire Dykes, and her inability to get Cuonzo to sign a contract.

bear2034 said:

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I would choose Tim DeRuyter over Clancy as DC. He did much more with less and never received the credit he deserved because all the credit went to Wilcox. Our defense hasn't been the same since he left.

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You're absolutely right about our defense not being the same since he left. He was a really good DC when he was here. But he also had a lot of defensive coaching talent around him in the position coaching spots.

You are also right about the stolen valor argument. Same goes with Tedford and Cortez.

But Gregory shut out multiple D-1 teams in the same year. That is a really big deal. We haven't even shut out an FCS team since he left.

TDR had our guys playing tougher than Clancy ever did. But Clancy's schemes were pretty great. I wish we could combine Clancy's head with TDR's heart.

I think you could make a good argument for any of those three at #1. It is also true that no one else comes close to cracking the top 3.

Big C said:

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What did Berdahl and Birgeneau do for Cal Athletics that compared with Carol Christ's forgiving of 1/2 of the stadium debt and acceptance of certificate programs for grad transfers (instead of requiring grad programs)?


You think Tedford's been our best HC over the last 25 years? Wow, you're really putting yourself out there!

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Berdahl agreed to finally give us elite facilities when Tedford demanded them (as part of his decision to come to Cal).

Christ extended Jim Knowlton. She agreed to a silly extension for Justin Wilcox. She also failed us during the first three stages of Pac-12 realignment.

TheDuke!!! said:

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bear2034 said:

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I would choose Tim DeRuyter over Clancy as DC. He did much more with less and never received the credit he deserved because all the credit went to Wilcox. Our defense hasn't been the same since he left.

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You're absolutely right about our defense not being the same since he left. He was a really good DC when he was here. But he also had a lot of defensive coaching talent around him in the position coaching spots.

You are also right about the stolen valor argument. Same goes with Tedford and Cortez.

But Gregory shut out multiple D-1 teams in the same year. That is a really big deal. We haven't even shut out an FCS team since he left.

TDR had our guys playing tougher than Clancy ever did. But Clancy's schemes were pretty great. I wish we could combine Clancy's head with TDR's heart.

I think you could make a good argument for any of those three at #1. It is also true that no one else comes close to cracking the top 3.

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Good points. My memory fails me so I don't recall the Bob Gregory shutouts. I do remember his bend but don't break strategy that was frustrating to watch at times. DeRuyter along with Wilcox taught defensive players fundamentals that apparently weren't taught by the previous staff like positioning themselves to make plays and to tackle properly. When I think of DeRuyter, I think about the Cheez-It bowl performance.

TheDuke!!! said:

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bear2034 said:

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I would choose Tim DeRuyter over Clancy as DC. He did much more with less and never received the credit he deserved because all the credit went to Wilcox. Our defense hasn't been the same since he left.

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You're absolutely right about our defense not being the same since he left. He was a really good DC when he was here. But he also had a lot of defensive coaching talent around him in the position coaching spots.

You are also right about the stolen valor argument. Same goes with Tedford and Cortez.

But Gregory shut out multiple D-1 teams in the same year. That is a really big deal. We haven't even shut out an FCS team since he left.

TDR had our guys playing tougher than Clancy ever did. But Clancy's schemes were pretty great. I wish we could combine Clancy's head with TDR's heart.

I think you could make a good argument for any of those three at #1. It is also true that no one else comes close to cracking the top 3.

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I looked it up. Cal shut out Arizona in both 2004 and 2005. Arizona was a 3-8 team both seasons. We did also shut out Arizona State in 2004. They were 9-3 and a top 20 team so that was an impressive shutout. We haven't shut anybody out since then.

TheDuke!!! said:

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I was in favor of firing Tedford, but I didn't like the Dykes hire. However I will say this about him: he had us on the edge of our seats. And there were times that he really got our hopes up before we faced teams that required us to play defense. For that reason, I put him in front of Wilcox. I have never had raised hopes with Wilcox.

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Dykes beat one good team in 4 years (Utah in 2016). He only had me at the edge of my seat against mediocre teams. 2015 was the only year where there was any glimmer of hope, best QB in the country throwing to 5 future NFL guys, and we promptly folded like a lawn chair against the first decent team we played. That was the moment I realized that was Dykes' ceiling at Cal.

Dykes only edges Wilcox because while they have pretty similar records, the Pac 12 was a lot stronger during the Dykes years.

Eastern Oregon Bear said:

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TheDuke!!! said:

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bear2034 said:

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I would choose Tim DeRuyter over Clancy as DC. He did much more with less and never received the credit he deserved because all the credit went to Wilcox. Our defense hasn't been the same since he left.

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You're absolutely right about our defense not being the same since he left. He was a really good DC when he was here. But he also had a lot of defensive coaching talent around him in the position coaching spots.

You are also right about the stolen valor argument. Same goes with Tedford and Cortez.

But Gregory shut out multiple D-1 teams in the same year. That is a really big deal. We haven't even shut out an FCS team since he left.

TDR had our guys playing tougher than Clancy ever did. But Clancy's schemes were pretty great. I wish we could combine Clancy's head with TDR's heart.

I think you could make a good argument for any of those three at #1. It is also true that no one else comes close to cracking the top 3.

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I looked it up. Cal shut out Arizona in both 2004 and 2005. Arizona was a 3-8 team both seasons. We did also shut out Arizona State in 2004. They were 9-3 and a top 20 team so that was an impressive shutout. We haven't shut anybody out since then.

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That's really astonishing, isn't it? Sure, Arizona wasn't the strongest team either of those years. But presumably they were better than all those matchups we've since had agains Sac State, Portland State, Presbyterian, and Davis. But we haven't been able to shut out any of those cupcakes. So let's not poo-poo shutting out a Pac-10 team in consecutive years.

And shutting out two Pac-10 teams in the same year - including one in the Top 20!?!?!?!

I remember being really pissed at Gregory towards the end of his tenure. But in retrospect, maybe I shouldn't have been.

okaydo said:

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Athletic Directors:

1. Sandy: Led Cal Athletics during Cal football's best season of the past 65 years (2006). Also built the stadium and tne Aaron Rodgers Center.

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This pains the snowflakes.

bear2034 said:

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okaydo said:

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Athletic Directors:

1. Sandy: Led Cal Athletics during Cal football's best season of the past 65 years (2006). Also built the stadium and tne Aaron Rodgers Center.

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This pains the snowflakes.

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What does this mean?

concernedparent said:

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Dykes beat one good team in 4 years (Utah in 2016). He only had me at the edge of my seat against mediocre teams. 2015 was the only year where there was any glimmer of hope, best QB in the country throwing to 5 future NFL guys, and we promptly folded like a lawn chair against the first decent team we played. That was the moment I realized that was Dykes' ceiling at Cal.

Dykes only edges Wilcox because while they have pretty similar records, the Pac 12 was a lot stronger during the Dykes years.

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I agree with this. It is a tradeoff -- Dykes never won a Big Game, but he had us in really exciting barn burners against mediocre teams. He did beat a few other good teams besides the one you mentioned, but I get your point.

I can't remember ever having hope or excitement with Wilcox. But he has beat furd and USC a decent number of times.

TheDuke!!! said:

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concernedparent said:

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Dykes beat one good team in 4 years (Utah in 2016). He only had me at the edge of my seat against mediocre teams. 2015 was the only year where there was any glimmer of hope, best QB in the country throwing to 5 future NFL guys, and we promptly folded like a lawn chair against the first decent team we played. That was the moment I realized that was Dykes' ceiling at Cal.

Dykes only edges Wilcox because while they have pretty similar records, the Pac 12 was a lot stronger during the Dykes years.

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I agree with this. It is a tradeoff -- Dykes never won a Big Game, but he had us in really exciting barn burners against mediocre teams. He did beat a few other good teams besides the one you mentioned, but I get your point.

I can't remember ever having hope or excitement with Wilcox. But he has beat furd and USC a decent number of times.

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I looked this up before, so doing it from memory: The Dykes defense helped various opponents establish I think like 4 all time team records, I believe one or two conference records, and, at the time, a National record (in the passing yards allowed in a game I think?).
Yeah, the Cheez-It bowl thing was a national embarrassment, but, for me, Wilcox hasn't embarrassed to the level Dykes (defense) did....

What about Waterboys?

BearoutEast67 said:

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What about Waterboys?

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Not sure who they are. But one could conceivably do a Mike Man ranking.

TheDuke!!! said:

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mbBear said:

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I looked this up before, so doing it from memory: The Dykes defense helped various opponents establish I think like 4 all time team records, I believe one or two conference records, and, at the time, a National record (in the passing yards allowed in a game I think?).
Yeah, the Cheez-It bowl thing was a national embarrassment, but, for me, Wilcox hasn't embarrassed to the level Dykes (defense) did....

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Wilcox has few "scandal" marks against him. There was that report of alleged sexual harassment by an unnamed assistant coach, which came out around the same time Gerald Alexander left the program. One could also issue a mark against him for the way his agent played us into a huge contract extension based on very flimsy news reports. But in my view, that isn't mainly on Wilcox. It is on our adminsitration. Our AD should have said: "Coach, you have a losing record. So if you indeed have an offer from Oregon, by all means accept it."

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Well Dykes literally had a player die while doing team workouts, and there was the code red incident where a walk-on got hospitalized in a locker room fight.

concernedparent said:

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TheDuke!!! said:

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mbBear said:

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I looked this up before, so doing it from memory: The Dykes defense helped various opponents establish I think like 4 all time team records, I believe one or two conference records, and, at the time, a National record (in the passing yards allowed in a game I think?).
Yeah, the Cheez-It bowl thing was a national embarrassment, but, for me, Wilcox hasn't embarrassed to the level Dykes (defense) did....

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Wilcox has few "scandal" marks against him. There was that report of alleged sexual harassment by an unnamed assistant coach, which came out around the same time Gerald Alexander left the program. One could also issue a mark against him for the way his agent played us into a huge contract extension based on very flimsy news reports. But in my view, that isn't mainly on Wilcox. It is on our adminsitration. Our AD should have said: "Coach, you have a losing record. So if you indeed have an offer from Oregon, by all means accept it."

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Well Dykes literally had a player die while doing team workouts, and there was the code red incident where a walk-on got hospitalized in a locker room fight.

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I forgot about the fist fight. I mentioned the other stuff and more in my post.

calumnus said:

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Big C said:

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What did Berdahl and Birgeneau do for Cal Athletics that compared with Carol Christ's forgiving of 1/2 of the stadium debt and acceptance of certificate programs for grad transfers (instead of requiring grad programs)?


You think Tedford's been our best HC over the last 25 years? Wow, you're really putting yourself out there!

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Christ may be well meaning and did some "good" (no brainer) things that any chancellor should do, but completely squandered that by hiring Jim Knowlton for $1.3 million a year and giving him a lifetime extension far beyond her own retirement, while letting him "work" from Colorado Springs while squandering $millions on bad hires, stupid extensions and legal bills from criminally negligent handling of the McKeever scandal. Then she completely blew realignment by hitching up with Kliavkoff and opposing UCLA's move to the B1G, instead of trying to get us in too. If Stanford had not pulled us into the ACC she was ready to shut down the football program. We had to buy our way in and are now about to go over a financial cliff, just as she hands the wheel to Lyons. We very well may not survive. Then every chancellor will be forced to "forgive" 100% of the stadium debt.

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Want tot make sure at the start that I don't support McKeever's totally atrocious behavior toward her swimmers, which I read about in the famous Orange County publicaions. But I was surprised recently to see she won four NCAA swimming titles at Cal, which I don't rcall reading anywhere before. Maybe I am the only one who didn't know that. Still, that is Impressive.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/swimming_champs_records/2020-21/D1women.pdf

Gobears49 said:

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calumnus said:

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Big C said:

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What did Berdahl and Birgeneau do for Cal Athletics that compared with Carol Christ's forgiving of 1/2 of the stadium debt and acceptance of certificate programs for grad transfers (instead of requiring grad programs)?


You think Tedford's been our best HC over the last 25 years? Wow, you're really putting yourself out there!

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Christ may be well meaning and did some "good" (no brainer) things that any chancellor should do, but completely squandered that by hiring Jim Knowlton for $1.3 million a year and giving him a lifetime extension far beyond her own retirement, while letting him "work" from Colorado Springs while squandering $millions on bad hires, stupid extensions and legal bills from criminally negligent handling of the McKeever scandal. Then she completely blew realignment by hitching up with Kliavkoff and opposing UCLA's move to the B1G, instead of trying to get us in too. If Stanford had not pulled us into the ACC she was ready to shut down the football program. We had to buy our way in and are now about to go over a financial cliff, just as she hands the wheel to Lyons. We very well may not survive. Then every chancellor will be forced to "forgive" 100% of the stadium debt.

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Want tot make sure at the start that I don't support McKeever's totally atrocious behavior toward her swimmers, which I read about in the famous Orange County publicaions. But I was surprised recently to see she won four NCAA swimming titles at Cal, which I don't rcall reading anywhere before. Maybe I am the only one who didn't know that. Still, that is Impressive.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/swimming_champs_records/2020-21/D1women.pdf

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The reason cult leaders, dictators and some "old school" coaches use harsh, authoritarian measures sometimes including scapegoating and persecution of minorities, independent thinkers and dissenters, is it produces results. At least, in the short term.